Former Arts Council Board Member Calls for Policy-Led Reform at Montserrat Arts Council

Former Montserrat Arts Council board member and cultural practitioner Trevon Pollard has issued a public call for a strategic overhaul of the Montserrat Arts Council, urging its Board of Directors to move beyond symbolic governance and address long-standing structural weaknesses within the institution.

In an open letter addressed to the Chairman of the Montserrat Arts Council, Pollard welcomed the recent stepping down of the council’s director but warned that leadership change alone would not resolve what he described as deeper institutional failures.

“Leadership change alone does not resolve structural failure,” Pollard wrote. “At this moment, the responsibility rests squarely with the Board of Directors to steady the institution and redirect its path, bringing an end to the ongoing cultural spiral.”

Pollard, a former Montserrat calypso contender and soca artist now based in Trinidad and Tobago, previously served on the Arts Council’s board in 2022/23. In his letter, he pointed to what he described as years of institutional stagnation, lack of foresight and cultural brain drain, arguing that these issues have already taken a toll on Montserrat’s cultural sector.

While acknowledging that some past boards had made “credible contributions,” Pollard said these efforts consistently failed to establish the foundations needed for sustained growth. He criticised board composition over successive terms, suggesting it often functioned “less as strategic governance bodies and more as resting places for individuals and political supporters,” while the institution itself suffered from a lack of vision, accountability and measurable outcomes.

Drawing comparisons with regional models, Pollard highlighted Trinidad and Tobago’s approach to cultural governance, where institutions such as the National Carnival Commission and CreativeTT operate within formal cultural policy frameworks.

“Across the region, particularly in Trinidad and Tobago, cultural governance has increasingly been guided by formal cultural policy frameworks, clearly defined institutional mandates, and measurable creative-industry objectives,” he wrote. “While not without challenges, these frameworks provide continuity, legitimacy, and strategic direction beyond individual leadership tenures.”

Pollard expressed particular concern over the status of Montserrat’s national Cultural Policy, which he noted has remained in draft form for several years.

Read the draft cultural policy here.

“The continued failure of the Board to address, amend, and enact Montserrat’s national Cultural Policy is deeply alarming,” he said, adding that the absence of an enacted policy undermines funding frameworks, institutional mandates, artist protection, cultural education, heritage preservation and creative industry development.

He argued that a Cultural Policy should be treated as a foundational governance tool rather than an administrative formality.

“A properly enacted Cultural Policy is not an optional administrative document; it is a foundational governance instrument,” Pollard wrote. “Without such a framework, the Arts Council operates without a compass, reacting to circumstances rather than shaping them.”

In closing, Pollard called on the Board to adopt a more deliberate, policy-driven approach aligned with regional best practice, while remaining rooted in Montserrat’s cultural identity.

“Montserrat’s culture cannot afford further drift,” he said. “The time for deliberate, policy-driven, and visionary redirection is now.”